Jonathan Scott is a mobile security engineer, phone hacker, cloud hacker, and human rights defender who has publicly disclosed significant, deeply embedded vulnerabilities in major mobile operating systems and hardware. He holds a master's degree in computer science and is currently working on his doctorate.
Professional Background and Ethical Shift:
- Scott has been in the hacking space for approximately 13 years, specializing in phone, IoT, and cloud hacking.
- For about eight years, he was contracted to create backdoors into phones and systems, selling these exploits as "features" to publicly traded companies like GameStop and Verizon. He later recognized that he was "selling exploits" and contributing to global issues.
- He openly admits that his past motivations were driven by a desire for a materialistic life and greed, acknowledging that he was creating tools that essentially aided spyware. He describes his past actions as "disgusting and horrible".
- His "ethos changed", and he now strives to maintain an ethical approach, even while disclosing sensitive information. He teaches forensics and ethical security hacking (offensive and defensive techniques) to human rights groups worldwide.
- He is the founder of Zero Black LLC.
- Scott also runs a non-profit organization, Hacktree.org, which accepts and validates spyware information, and spyware.wiki, a platform dedicated to information about spyware globally.
- He states he is an FBI asset, assisting federal investigations by breaking passcode locks on phones, though the FBI refused to confirm or deny this association when his lawyers tried to involve them in his personal lawsuit.
Challenges and Personal Toll:
- Scott has faced severe backlash for his disclosures, including public dismissal as a "liar or fraud" and credible death threats to himself and his family.
- He experienced a significant personal betrayal when his former business partner and cousin-in-law, John Signs, embezzled $750,000 (half of his $1.5 million upfront payment from Blanco Technology Group) and stole his intellectual property, including his code and company laptop. Scott was also forced to sign a "broadest release" in Texas, which courts later used to dismiss his claims of theft and fraud, leaving him without legal representation.
- His wife, an engineer, designed hardware for Project Mamba, and he has stated that he "almost lost his marriage" due to the intensity and personal cost of his work.
- He receives crucial support and guidance from Alberto Daniel Hill, who was also imprisoned for trying to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities, and who "prepared [him] for what's going to happen" regarding the predictable stages of backlash.
- Scott notes that most of his ongoing court case is sealed for "national security reasons," which he views as compelling proof that his revelations are real and taken seriously by the government, unlike how some in the infosec community perceive them.
Current Activities and Philosophy:
- Scott continues to release his findings publicly, often through live demonstrations, and encourages others to download his code from GitHub (jonathandata1) to verify his findings. His GitHub profile states his focus is on researching mobile malware/spyware/forensics.
- He asserts that his solutions are "shockingly simple," using "tools that we've been given to us against us," rather than complex, obscure zero-day hacks.
- He advocates strongly for device privacy, driven by his firsthand knowledge of what he is capable of doing to devices.
- Scott believes that if technology is built by humans, it will always be flawed, and creative human minds will find ways to defeat it.
- Despite some in the infosec community dismissing him as a "liar or fraud" or the "laughingstock of infosec," and his claims facing disagreement from other experts, he remains committed to telling his story and pushing for transparency.
